GENERAL MEWS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1509, 31 January 1901, Page 30

GENERAL MEWS.

Mr P. Thomson, of Invercargill, has been, appointed to fill the position of Inspector of Dairies in Wellington and suburbs under the new regulations. Other appointments will follow later.

The ceremony in the opening of the Basilica in Hill street on Sunday will take th-e form of a Pontifical High Mass, which will b& sung by! Dr J. J. Grimes, Bishop of Christchurch. Cardinal Moran will be unable to attend the ceremony, and in his absence Archbishop Redwood will preside. Archbishop Carr, of Melbourne, •will preach. In consequence of the inability of Cardinal Moran to be present, the ceremony of laying the foundation, stone of the new cathedral has been postponed.

Incidentally the question of Sunday trams cropped up on Monday at the Board of Conciliation, at present engaged with the drivers’ dispute. Mr Alien Orr (secretary to the Drivers Union) raid he privately did not approve of Sunday trams. Ihe union, however, did not ask the Board to deal with the moral phase of the question. Public opinion would deal with that at a later stage. What the union asked vws that if Sunday trams were deemea a necessity, the'Board should fix the rate of wages the men so employed should be paid.

In connection with the despatch of the troopship Cornwall, great credit is due to the ascents of the steamer, Messrs W. M. Bannatyne and Co. This firms staff worked night and day from Thursday morning last until the steamer cast * off* from, the Queen’s Wharf, and the energy displayed by it "was largely responsible for the vessel getting away at the hour originally fixed for her departure, viz., 6 p.m. on Saturday. It may be mentioned that Messrs W. iU. Bannatyne and Co. supplied the whole of the stores, provisions and coals taken in by the above steamer at this port. •Many people will hear with regret that news has been received that Captain Wi L. H. Brown, of H.M. Navy, died somewhat suddenly at Harwich, on December 12th, death being attributed to heart failure. The deceased officer will be kindly remembered by many friends in New Zealand and Australia, as captain of the cruiser Tauranga. On his return to England he was transferred to the Severn. Captain Brown was bora in 1848, and became a naval cadet in 1860, sub-lieutenant in 1868, lieutenant in 1872. In 1886 he was promoted to commander, and attained his captaincy in 1893. The deceased officer was a deputylieutenant or the County of Londonderry, and was also the holder of the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society, which was awarded him in 1871. At that time Captain Brown was a sublieutenant on the China station, and jumped overboard and saved the life of Lieutenant L. Edge, R.M.L.S., who had fallen into the Victoria Harbour, Hongkong. • ’ The manner in which the Hon J. G. Ward (Acting-Premier) sprained his ankle on Saturday does not appear to be generally known. The facts are that Mr .Ward was walking down Hill street,- having arranged for his groom to overtake JbgHri .I The latter presently arrived, rid_ ing one horse and leading another. He dismounted, and, handing the reins of ftir Ward’s horse, “ Awartta,” to the latter, immediately proceeded to -remount. His horse being fresh, the man was at once thrown, and the animal bolted, “ Awaxua” endeavoured to follow the bad. example, and; Mr Ward tried to restrain him Instantly, the latter was twisted ’ violently round, and had his right ankle fcacßy sprained. Notwithstanding the painfulness of the injury, and that it oO*t the honourable gentleman at least due sleepless night, he,, with great pluck and fortitude, insisted 1 on rising in his •efrfl&ge to addcreai the departing -trooperer on Saturday, and yesterday actually climbed the steps at the Parliamentary Buildings on a pair of crutches, and therS read the proclamation of the accession of King Edward VII.

The necessity for tramcar drivers bavWjg ; experience and skill was illustrated by » witness before the Conciliation Soar'd! on Monday. Ho related, the following incident: —A car was turning from Willis street into Manners street, which was crowded at the time, when the swingle-bar fouled - through the breaking of the connecting pin. Inhere were three horses attached to the . oar, and three runaways with a swingle-bar swinging .front side to side in a crowded street are afecut; as terrible a menace to public safety as can be well, imagined. Tha driver, well aware of this, held on to the reins with his left hand, whil© he put the brake on the car, which was being drawn along by the reins only, with his right hand. As the car stopped he allowed himself to be dragged brer the front of the car,, still clinging to the rein*. It was impossible to pull the animals up. The only thing to prevent a catastrophe was to guide them into the first approaching vehicle. This he suc«esf€nlly managed to accomplish, driving them into a ■van. as the frightened h#r«es dragged him along Manners street Tti© circumstance was reported! in th« psqperts at the time, but the story is worth- repeating, as a possible answer to statements mJde recently before tha Beard.

The Buckle street site has now been definitely decided upon for the new Roman Catholic Cathedral.

The number of telegrams sent from and received at the telegraph office at the" Hutt Park Racecourse last week was 2713.

Mr John O. George has been appointed a member of tne Taranaki Conciliation Board, vice Mr David Brown, retired.

The annual meeting of the Equitable Building and Investment Company, Limited, will be held at the Chamber of Commerce on Monday next. The Hon J. G. Ward, questioned by a “ Times’ 7 reporter, said that the despatch of a Seventh Contingent is not at present in contemplation by the Government.

When the news came that tha Queen was dead, the postmaster at Pahiatoa closed the local post office, and refused to handle any more letters that day, greatly to the inconvenience of the inhabitants.

Captain Kermode, of the ship La.ke Erie, has informed the Superintendent of Mercantile Marine at Lyttelton that he passed an immense iceberg on January 17 at 6 p.m. The position of theiceoerg was 46.30 deg. south, 128.30'cleg, east-

The Working Men’s Club at Petcne was broken into on Monday. A patent cash register was broken up and one pound in small change abstracted. ■ The register, which was valued at £4O, was found broken up in the vicinity of the railway station. This is the third burglary that has occurred at Petone within a week, and the’ police are busy seeking clues in the vicinity. The Takapnna brought- over from Pieton on Saturday four specially-selected Romney Marsh rams. The. rams have been purchased from Captain Dalton, of Blenheim, by Mr G. H. Scales of the Hutt. Mr Scales also received thirtyeight Lincoln stud rams by the Monowai, from Mr F. Sutton, the well-known breeder, of Invercargill. -

There was only a short sitting of the Magistrate’s Court on Saturday. Dr McArthur, S.M., presiding. ©has. Hogg was sene to v prisen, for three months for having fised obscene language -on the Hutt Racecourse, and Wm. Brown was fined 10s for drunkenness, with the usual alternative. Frank King was fined; 10s for furiously propelling a bicycle along Oriental Bay road.

A proposal that the friendly societies of Wellington should combine to secure the exclusive services of several medical men, paying each of them a fixed annual salary, has been discussed by the United Friendly Societies’ Council, and is also to be considered by the several societies at an early date. The amount, at present paid by the societies in Wellington for medical attendance and advice is about- £3OOO per annum. . -

A touching episode illustrating the wide charity of our late Queen was related by Mr Jas. Moore, of the Missions to Seamen on Sundav evening. The missioner told of how when visiting some invalid sailors in a Bristol-, hospital he noticed a poor lad of eight years of age erving—he had lost both his arms in a tramway . accident *- Tno .Queen: heard: of the accident, and interested herself., in the ease, and she had the boy taught to paint by holding ; brushes : in his mouth. So apt a - pupil r did. ,the dad prove himself that he won a scholarship at the National iirt Training School, tenable for two years, and valued at 100 guineas. He was also awarded in the National competition one silver and two bronze medals. ; .. The Queen continued her interest in the arinless artist right, through his career, and collections of his works in water colours and oil now hang on the walls pf Balia oral and Windsor. Her Majesty's protege,Mr Bertram Hiles. has exhibited at: the ; Royal Society of. British Artists and the! Dudley Gallery, and a small but remarkable collection of his work —water colour drawings, with a few oil-paintings and designs for wallpapers, friezes, etc: —is to be seen at the Crystal Palace. - ; • Mr Geo. W. Fraser, steward the_ R.M.S. Papanui, writes criticising, the statement made by the ship’s ..steward of the B.s. Cornwall; re the catering for tha Sixth Contingent, in which ho professes. to have on board a supply of 100 tons of fresh meat, assorted, besides a supplement cf 80001 b of fish and sausages, and 4000 head of poultry. Having had (says • Mr Fraser) considerable experience of the Jmpeiial troopships Dilwara, Dunera, Avoea and Jelunga, cf the well-known British-India fleet, and knowing perfectly well what should be required at a glance, I at once, imagined the Cornwall’s bill to be of too magnificent a nature, and consequently, on figuring out the items, find that each man will have something like 61b of meat per day en route to the Cape. Of course anyone knows how ridiculous this is, and why such a statement should he made I fail to comprehend. On a large steamer conveying first, second and third-class passengers I allow myself on an average 31b of meat per head per day, and as yet have never had any complaint from passengers. In fact, with such ® consumption any practi6al man can easily purvey the very best cf tables. Such a statement as appears in the Cotnwall's report is entirely misleading and very injurious to other men in our capacity.

Writing with reference to the wool sales, “A Victim” says : —lt is now quite evident to the small grower that he is the victim of a combination of buyers. Surely growers cannot afford to be victimised much longer, and I hope some movement will soon take place amongst them for their protection.

The secretary of the United Friendly Societies’ Council wishes to state, on behalf of the executive, that the information published is inaccurate and unauthorised on the subject- of the friendly societies df Wellington combining to secure the '.exclusive services, of several medical men at fixed salaries. The matter has not been discussed by the Friendly Societies’ Council.

At a sale of property on Monday, Messrs J. 11. Bethune and Co. disposed of r ‘Clyde Cliff,” a fourteen-roomed residence in Hawker street, owned by the late Mrs F. E. Fitz Gerald, and erected on a section containing 1 acre 2 roods 29 perches. Messrs Badham and Biss, as agents, were the purchasers. An joining section with frontages of oOft and 90ft was sold to Mr Andrews, and a four-roomed dwelling in Sydney street, No. 75, was sold to Mr W. H. McKay for £350.

The Corporation officials have still something to learn in the matter of running tram-cars. On Monday afternoon o number of passengers on their way to thff Manawa-tu Railway Station, who wore crowded out of tlio through car to the station, were turned out of a car at the Government Buildings, and had to walk the remaining half-mile . amid the pouring.rain. Surely the officials might give orders, that would obviate' such treatment.

At St. Peter’s Church on Saturday afternoon, Mr W. E. Bendall, the eldest son of Captain Bendall, was married to Miss. Amy Cameron, second daughter of Mr Richard Cameron, manager of the Auckland Savings Bank. Miss Edith Bendall, sister of the bridegroom, attended Miss Camereon as bridesmaid, and Mr O. B. Bendall acted as best, man. The bridal parly was entertained at the residence of Mr W. Clayton, (brother-in-law of the bride) after the ceremony.

While bathing in tbs Rangitaiki last week, Miss Hassall, a member of Mrs Donnelly’s fisnmg party, had a narrow escape from drowning. Being unable to swim, she was swept away by the current. The > young lady had twice gone >under, when" Mrs Donnelly’s nephew, Rii Karauria, pluckily dived in and succeeded in supporting her till young Ewan Troutbeck swam to his asistance, and between them they succeeded in landing ■ Miss Hassall in safety. They were all much exhausted, but soon recovered. The two lads are only thirteen and fourteen years of age, and (adds the “Hawke’s Bay Herald,” from which we quote), we consider it a case for recognition by the Royal Humane Society. Captain Reginald Bailor, the captain of the Cornwall, which left with the Sixth Cbntingnt on Saturday, is one of tho youngest commanders in the service of the Federal line. He is quite oil the right side of thirty, and yet possesses some very high qualifications. He is a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve, and; a duly-equipped pilot, hav--7 ing " passed all the necessary examina- . t-ions at Trinity House. He is strikingly youthful and Napoleonic in appearance, and has a moat attractive per- • soiiality. For the past twelve months h® has been engaged with the Cornwall in carrying troops to South Africa, and in this capacity has maintained his reputation as a careful and highly corn, petent commander.

Just prior to the, departure of the Cornwall on Saturday the Mayor and a .number of . leading citizens assembled on, the troopship and the opportunity was taken of toasting 'the health of Mr E. Owen Cox, representative, and Captain Reginald Darter, ; commander of the Federal Company's liner. The Hon W. C. Walker, on behalf of those present, thanked the gentlemen referred to for the smart and efficient, manner in which the troopship had been equipped, and! trusted that their next visit to these shores would be under pleasanter auspices. Mr Cox, in response, thanked Mr Walker; for his kindly compliments', and expressed the hope that the efforts of those connected with' the Cornwall to make the officers and troopers aboard happy , and comfortable would be found to be worthy of appreciation.

; The January number of the ‘'Reviews., of Reviews for Australasia,” i just, to hand from the publishers, is a specially large and interesting number. An extra space of some 27 pages is occupied byjan illustrated article by the Rev Joseph Berry, entitled ‘'Now Zealand at the Beginning of the. Century.” This article is written with a good deal of literary , grace. its facts are reliable, and itis marked by enthusiastic appreoiativeness of this country's scenery, climate and institutions. Sir Robert Stout's •article on ‘'New Zealand and an Island Federation” is reprinted; and other features of the number are articles on ■'The Nineteenth Century,” by Mr W. T. Stead, and on “A Century of War,” by Rev W. H. Fitchett. It is an Excellent number, and one that will gjve •“bold advertisement” to New Zealand's attractions for the tourist, the invalid and the soSles 1 .